This man’s mother-in-law has a long history of criticizing him—but never to his face.

Instead, she takes every visit as an opportunity to tell his kids how bad he is as a parent and husband. Despite multiple warnings from his wife, MIL refuses to stop.

Now, she wants to stay at their home, and he’s had enough. Should he let her stay with them anyway?

Let’s read the whole story.

AITAH for Not Letting My Mother-in-Law Stay Until She Stops Talking Bad About Me to My Kids?

So a little background, my (39m) wife (39f) and I have been married for almost 20 years (yes we got married very young) and have 4 children ranging in ages from 15 to 7.

We are all very close as we’ve traveled around the world as a military family.

I was very fortunate in my career to have made it as far as I did, but decided it was time to hang it up and plant some roots and grow closer to our extended family.

The only problem is his mother-in-law.

That being said, my mother-in-law has a habit of badmouthing me to my own kids every time she’s around.

She never says anything directly to my face, but she’ll make little digs behind my back, criticizing my parenting, how I’m falling short as a husband, or just making me seem like a bad guy.

My kids don’t like hearing it and will come tell me about how uncomfortable it makes them.

My 15 year old has even confronted his grandmother but he just gets shut down and told he doesn’t know anything about life.

His wife has tried to help.

Now, my wife has spoken to her mother about the issue multiple times but that conversation usually ends in an argument where both parties end up not speaking to each other for a few days.

I offered to have a chat with her about the issue, but we decided that it would probably just make things worse.

He doesn’t want his MIL to stay with them.

MIL was making plans to visit and I told my wife I’m uncomfortable her with her staying here. Not liking me for whatever reason is one thing, but my kids don’t need to hear about it.

Now, my MIL is playing the victim, and is accusing me of just trying to keep her away from her grandkids, and it’s all drama now.

But I don’t think I should have to let someone stay in my home while they actively try to undermine me, even if they’re family.

So, AITAH for setting this boundary?

Is it really unfair to expect basic respect in your own home? Reddit says no!

This person says NTA, but suggests giving MIL some boundaries.

This person says MIL’s behavior definitely warrants OP’s.

And this person has a good comeback for her.

If she wants a guest room, she can start by keeping the insults to herself.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.